


There’s Never Enough Time In A Moment But, When There Is…

by DeathsLastPrayer



Series: Dude... I've Probably Always Loved You, Which Is Weird But... Whatever [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Animated Universe, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Birdflash - Freeform, Bromance to Romance, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 04:13:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7920088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathsLastPrayer/pseuds/DeathsLastPrayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Which: Dick and Wally finally (FINALLY) figure it all out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There’s Never Enough Time In A Moment But, When There Is…

* * *

##### 

I. 

* * *

  
  


“Dude, you’re hard to get in touch with these days.” 

Dick glances away from the monitors to stare at Wally who’s walking over in full costume. It’s been… Eight months. Eight long months since he’s seen anyone for something other than business –be it Bat business or otherwise. 

A lot’s happened in that span of time. 

It starts outside of Gotham with an attempt at world domination by a super villain with an overzealous ego that’s amplified by an unexpected boost in power (a typical “just a day in the life” sort of scenario that Dick is all too familiar with by this point). 

Ends with the multiverse being pieced back together after a time consuming battle that’s devastating in more ways than it isn’t. 

And now… 

Bruce is… dead or… somewhere, if Tim has anything to say about it. And Gotham needs Batman, which is the main problem –which is why Gotham is chaotic and bursting at the seams and the whole family is out there trying to maintain order… An order that Dick is supposed to contain. Then there’s Damian who’s hard headed and needs Bruce or Batman or both. Plus, Tim. Tim who wants Dick to be Batman and Tim who’s going through too much in addition to Bat family problems so really... 

Dick runs his fingers through his hair but he can’t muster a smile because he’s been moving ever since everything came to a head with no time to grieve as stress mounts and- and he hasn’t slept since who knows when. He has too much on his mind to feign happiness. Too much on his mind to deal with whatever Wally wants to deal with at the moment. 

“Babe… you look like shit.” 

Well… that does make Dick smile because he’s seen himself in the mirror recently and he does, in fact, look like shit. Bags under his eyes, chapped lips, greasy hair, facial hair… he’s seen himself look worse if he’s being honest. “Too busy to care about being pretty these days. What’s up?” 

Instead of answering, Wally gently grabs his face and examines him with bright emerald eyes –turns his head this way and that. Dick lets him because the touch is surprisingly warm and that gaze just- it calms him down in its own way. Makes him feel like he’s not dealing with the world alone. 

Wally frowns, “You need sleep.” 

“Gotham’s crime is kind of ridiculous right now so I don’t have time to sleep.” Sadly. 

“You. Need. Sleep. You won’t do anyone any good if you’re sleep deprived.” 

“I agree, Master Richard. Which is why Madam Barbra will be taking over your monitor duties.” Alfred walks down the steps and smiles in Wally’s direction, “Good evening, Master Wallace.” 

“Hey, Alfred!” Wally waves and smiles but then he’s staring at Dick again- “Bed.” It’s not a question. 

Dick frowns and opens his mouth to argue and then snaps it shut when Alfred gives him _that_ look and, really, he’s already lost the argument. “Four hours. That’s all I need and that’s all I’m willing to give up.” 

“Perhaps a bath and a shave can be slotted into those four hours, Master Richard.” 

Wally outright laughs. 

Dick grumbles but he doesn’t say no. 

So he takes a shower and lets his mind empty into the drain with the hot water sloshing at his feet. He shaves and pushes back his hair –vaguely wishes he cared enough to cut it because it’s gotten longer than he likes. And when he gets to the spare room in the cave (home away from home), he’s not surprised to see Wally in civies just laying there with his hands folded beneath his head like he’s been waiting. Dick still has mixed feelings about Wally being there and here but he’s so not in the mood to think. Not when he’s being given a break. 

“Four hours.” Dick climbs onto the bed and he doesn’t mind if Wally wants to be his pillow. 

Obviously, Wally doesn’t mind being his pillow because he adjusts to Dick wrapping an arm around his chest and tangling their legs. “So you keep saying. Go to sleep.” 

Dick’s out before he can think of something snarky to say to that. 

  
  


* * *

* * *

* * *

  
  


He wakes up to fingers idly pushing through his hair and humming. Off-key and slightly pitchy humming. But neither of those things are unwelcomed. In fact, it makes him want to go back to sleep –makes him burrow further into Wally’s side. So warm. What he wouldn’t give for just one day- 

The humming stops but the fingers keep moving, “It’s been seven hours and, before you get all pissy about your sleep, I tried to wake you up. Three times. But, dude, lucky me, the world didn’t end, the Bat Cave didn’t implode, and Gotham is still standing in its own weird way.” 

Dick can’t help smiling at that –just a slight quirk of the lips as he tilts his head to stare at Wally. Sleep still clings to his mind and grips his limbs –has him tethered between dreams and reality. Keeps him swept up in those amused/concerned/adoring/questioning emerald corneas. For just a moment, he really wants to enjoy Wally being _there_ and _under him_. Holding him. Having the warmth of someone else or even forgetting (for the barest of seconds) that he has the weight of the worlds perched on his shoulders and he’s holding it alone. 

Wally has this way of making all of that fade. Of making the world and the noise it encompasses fall away so that Dick can just be. 

And rarely does he get to “just be” these days. 

If they had more time, he’d give Wally answers to every unspoken question buried in that longing gaze. But they don’t have time and Dick’s mind is snapping into action quicker than he wants it to. 

He’s starting to think about “duty” and “obligation” and “responsibilities” intertwined with that dull yearning to give Wally answers –to flay open their personal relationship with a serious discussion that can wait but shouldn’t have to. Not when Wally’s feelings are the ones up in the air and out in the open and Wally’s the one who’s probably been sitting and stewing and- 

And there definitely isn’t time for Dick to handle a conversation like that when he has to think about his family’s wellbeing and an entire city and then his own city that’s a bit neglected on account of the situation in Gotham- 

“Hey, dude, don’t freak out. I’m sorry I couldn’t wake you up.” Wally sounds so apologetic as he sits up and just stares and those eyes- 

Dick feels like an asshole. 

Wally doesn’t need to apologize, which he says as he sits up and straddles jean clad thighs. Since he can’t give Wally what he wants or needs or both right now, he can at least be grateful. Which he is because- because it’s Wally who always comes to find him during his darkest hour and it’s Wally who always drags him into the light when he gets so lost… “I’m really happy you’re here, Walls. I definitely owe you one just- the timing.” There’s more that needs to be said, he knows. 

But- Time. 

Time is such a fucking bitch that he can’t bend or rewind or twist to his liking. For that reason alone, he can’t make Wally a priority. 

Not now. 

Maybe never. 

It’s complicated. The sort of complex that he can’t sort into words or assign sentences too. 

Not that Wally seems to care because (in true Wally fashion) he just smiles and pulls Dick closer (is surprised when Dick lets himself be pulled close), lets his hands rest on strong hips, “Dick, c’mon. You don’t owe me anything because you’d do the same for me in a heartbeat.” And he can remember about a dozen of those instances right off of the top of his head. “A little sleep, even for a bat, is a small favor.” 

It has to be that cheeky and contagious grin that makes Dick swoon like a Sunday School girl. It just has to be. He blames that quirk of chapped pink lips for giving into the urge to ghost his fingers along Wally’s scruffy jaw just before coaxing him forward to kiss at those lips because he’s been swooned, damn it, and the perpetrator of that fuzzy feeling deserves some sort of something. So he cups that handsome face and gives Wally a proper kiss –licks at his own lips before he meets an all too eager mouth for the second time. 

Kissing Wally is familiar in the best of ways. It’s like coming home. Like waking up and going to sleep without the world being set ablaze. Like a shot of whiskey that burns going down and sits snug in the gut –makes the body and mind relaxed and loose. Warm. 

Kissing Wally always feels right. 

Which is why Dick can’t help getting into it once he starts. He can’t stop his fingers from tangling in short, shaggy ember hair as his nails rake gently along the scalp. He can’t reign in the urge to explore every wet flank of Wally’s mouth –tongues tracing teeth and running along gums and twisting sweetly as they compete for dominance. He gets a kick out of nibbling at that stingy bottom lip –sucking and tugging and mouthing the flesh until it reddens and swells just a bit. 

Kissing Wally is as euphoric as it is intoxicating. 

And a kiss is never enough. Always seems like a tease or a taste of what’s to come. 

It must be, because Wally’s hands slide down Dick’s waist to grip at his ass, to pull him forward and generate some friction. Makes Wally laugh when Dick gasps and arches a bit and rolls his hips and then his mind fumbles because he can’t really think outside of Wally’s lips moving from his mouth, down his throat –marking the sensitive skin along his collar. And the building vibration of Wally’s _entire_ body… Dick wants like nothing else. 

Wants more than he knows what to do with- 

“Dick!” Tim bursts into the room, stops, stares. “Hey Wally,” he’s too polite not to spare pleasantries but- “Dick, we need to go. Now. Damian took the batmobile.” 

Goddamn it! 

It’s always _Damian_ when it’s not anything else. 

The timing fucking sucks. 

And all he can do is offer an apologetic smile before climbing off of Wally. “Coming.” 

Tim nods and heads out. Gives them their space. 

“Do you want any help out there?” Despite being half-hard and still buzzing a little, Wally means that. 

But, it’s a no. Even though Bruce is… gone, the “No Metas in Gotham” rule still stands. “It’s alright, we’ve got this.” And, really, Dick is sure that he could leave the conversation right there but- “Look, things are _hectic_ here, to say the least. So, when everything calms down, I’ll come find you and I won’t make you wait another eight months.” That’s the most that he can give. 

And- of course Wally accepts that. Just smiles and nods. Places a quick and tender kiss just below the ear, “Just take care of yourself.” 

In the blink of an eye, Wally is gone and Dick doesn’t have time to feel at a loss or remorseful –doesn’t have time to feel as he starts tugging on his costume. 

  
  


* * *

##### 

II. 

* * *

  
  


It only takes three months but those three months feel like a lifetime. 

Turns out, Tim was right. Bruce _isn’t_ dead and he _is_ somewhere. No one knows where but- 

But Dick is leaving that investigation up to Tim. Tim who definitely needs space at the moment (and Dick will keep telling himself that it’s a teenager thing because, yeah, he was there once). As long as Tim keeps checking in from time to time, they’re all good. Which is expected because Tim’s the easy brother. Easier… mostly. 

Jason and Damian… not so much. 

Sure, Dick kicked Jason’s ass and he gets to gloat about being Batman until Bruce gets home (not that it’s really anything to gloat about but- still). Despite that, it doesn’t stop Jason from coming around and some visits are… better than others? For a lack of better words, that’ll have to do. All the same, Jason is a headache all on his own. 

And then there’s Damian. 

Damian as the current Robin. Tim hates that –the fact that Dick picked Damian over him. It wasn’t personal, which Dick tried to explain at the time but Tim was and is going through his _thing_ so… Anyway, Damian needs to be Robin. Needs to get ready for his place out there with Bruce and needs to be doing something because he doesn’t know how to just sit idly. 

In fact, leaving Damian alone is more of a pain in the ass than bringing him along. 

So, Damian is Robin. He’s hardheaded, combative, and undermining but, hey, he stopped killing people and he’s using less lethal force. Dick will take a win wherever he can get one. 

He can’t say the same about Jason. Matter of fact, he doesn’t even want to think about Jason. 

Or Damian. 

Or Tim. 

Or Gotham. 

And he really doesn’t have to think about anything at all if doesn’t want to because it’s his first night off in nearly a year. Barb wants him to rest and says she can handle the city for a night or three. Plus, she can handle Damian because the brat listens to her with blind obedience for reasons unknown (a fact that baffles Dick to no end). 

But, again, he doesn’t have to think about that. 

He does, on the other hand, have to think about Wally and his relationship with Wally. Which ultimately means that he’ll have to consider emotions that are and aren’t his and- And he wasn’t raised to keep other’s emotions in mind but he was definitely raised to read them (because he learned to read Bruce like a book but he still struggles with Batman). 

Lucky for him, Wally’s never been a hard read –his emotions are as telling as the title of a child’s book. But, even if they weren’t, Dick’s an expert at flipping through Wally’s pages. 

  
  


* * *

* * *

* * *

  
  


Dick takes a chance but, it’s the least he can do because Wally always takes a chance on him. 

The “ _chance_ ” he takes: Dick catches the first flight out to Keystone, breaks into Wally’s apartment around midnight, and pretends to cook but really just orders from Keystone’s finest Italian eatery (Domino’s). Whatever the case, he’s taking a chance on dinner all together because there was some chatter about Captain Cold robbing a bank on his way into the city but it’s nothing that Wally can’t handle. On the other hand, being a full time hero means that Wally’s not guaranteed to show up at home so… 

Definitely taking a chance. 

But he’s not left to fret for more than an hour and he gets a front row seat to Wally blindly speeding into his apartment and collapsing right at the entry way –back pressed against the door and eyes shut as he soaks up making it home. 

Dick recognizes that scene all too well. He’s played it out a few times himself. The moment when he makes it home after a particularly excruciating day under the mask or cowl –a day where his body and mind are both put to the test or pushed to pain thresholds that he didn’t even know he was capable of making it to. After one of those days, there’s nothing like making it home. Just being a space that’s familiar and his own and “safe” –a place where he can drop some (if not all) of his walls and thank the cosmos that he made it back to somewhere he had even the slightest probability of never making it to again. 

He gets it. 

So he feels mildly guilty when he says, “Yo,” and ruins the moment for Wally. 

The speedster bristles and he’s beside the couch before he recognizes that it’s Dick sitting there, tablet in hand. “Dick?!” The word sounds something like a question and a statement wrapped up in a neat little package. 

“Sorry for just popping in but- I did promise not to leave you hanging for another 8 months and I have a couple of-” Dick doesn’t get the chance to finish that sentence because he’s wrapped up in Wally’s arms and gets pressed to that hard chest. 

Wally sighs into a nest of black hair and leans back. He takes a moment to stare into bright blue eyes and- yes. Dick’s right there, in his arms and smiling a little crookedly. It’s not a dream or his imagination or some weird after-battle thing. It’s the real thing. “Man… I can’t believe you’re here, _here_.” 

Dick almost can’t believe it either, which he says before sitting back and putting some space between them. Just enough for him to get his heartbeat under control because- wow. That thing has a mind of it’s own from just one touch and- yeah. He’s missed Wally. 

A lot. 

Instead of saying that, Dick leads with, “I ordered from Keystone’s finest.” 

“Dude… Domino’s?” How he missed three dozen pizza boxes on the dining room table, Wally’ll never know but he’s glad they’re there. Happier that Dick is sitting in front of him and- “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” 

Dick knows. Can see it in emerald depths –Wally’s gaze is so hypnotic, it’s crippling. “Yeah… I probably have an idea.” Because- why the hell not- he leans forward, slides his hand up Wally’s neck and smiles, “a really good idea.” 

When their lips touch, it’s akin to something chaotic and harmonic all at once. It’s teeth clinking, pulling, and nibbling. It’s tongues tasting, savoring, measuring… It’s one of those things that numbs Dick’s mind in a way that he hasn’t felt since the last time he was with Wally and he’s hooked all over again. 

So very hooked. 

Feels like something has finally snapped into place and- “I love you, Walls,” the words are tenderly pressed to fading rouge lips that quirk up. Dick’s heart skips a full beat when his gaze connects with brimming emerald and he leans back a bit, grips at Wally’s shoulders and- yeah. H’s just gonna go for it. “I’m crazy about you, and I know I made you wait to hear it but-” 

Dick doesn’t get the chance to finish that sentence because his breath is stolen in the sweetest of kisses that he’s ever had the pleasure of indulging in. His mind falters and then he’s being lifted off of the couch and led to the bedroom where Wally lays him on the bed like he’s so, so precious. 

Which, to Wally, Dick is. Dick is absolutely everything and his gaze burns with a desire that settles warm and thick at the pit of Dick’s stomach… 

“You know,” Wally tugs down the top half of his uniform but that leer never wavers, “I’ve probably imagined you saying some variant of those words a dozen times over but,” he pauses to fully step out of his uniform before moving onto the bed, right between Dick’s parted thighs, “actually hearing you say it is probably the best thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.” And Wally means that with everything that he has and everything that he is. 

Dick smiles, cards his fingers through thick red-orange hair, “Best thing ever, huh?” 

“Well, next to me personally saying that I’m head over heels for you. That you’re the love of my life and I can’t believe it took us so long to get right here but, if I had to, I’d do it all over again.” 

Every painstaking flirtation. Every dark moment and bright spot. Good days, bad days, and fallouts. Wally would chase and follow Dick to the ends of every universe if it meant holding him in his arms like he was. Or even seeing that beautiful smile because Dick… Dick is nothing short of gorgeous –inside and out. 

So- yeah. He’d definitely do it all again. The teasing, the waiting, and the anticipation. 

Worth it. 

“Even the bit where I leave you hanging like, basically all of the time?” 

Wally laughs, “Especially those parts because it makes this,” he waves his hand between them before kissing Dick’s chin. “It definitely makes this all worth the wait.” 

That’s such a Wally thing to say –makes puffy rouge lips quirk, “You’re definitely gonna have to show me how worth the wait I am, you know that right.” It’s just a fact. 

They gotta make up for lost time because tomorrow isn’t promised and all of their days count. They have to in their line of work. 

“I know.” And, if Wally has it his way, he’ll spend every millisecond of every god given day for the rest of his life doing just that. 

“Good! Now make love to me, Kiddiot!” 

“Sure thing, Little Bats.” 

The last cohesive thought that tickles at Dick’s conscious mind is that he should’ve acknowledged falling in love with Wally sooner. It would’ve saved the two of them so much grief.  


**Author's Note:**

> So I'm back!!! I have one other concrete story planned for birdflash and I'm so happy to be back!
> 
> Thank you all for reading and, if you dug it, drop me a line!


End file.
